Schizo
a.k.a. Amok
1976 · Directed by Pete Walker · UK
Schizo (1976) is Pete Walker and long-time writing partner David McGillivray’s sojourn into psychodrama. The film begins with narration: “Schizophrenia, a mental disorder. Sometimes known as multiple or split personality. Characterised by loss of touch within an environment, an alternation between violent and contrasting behaviour patterns.”
It sets the scene for Lynne Frederick as Samantha, being stalked on her wedding day by a man from her past. Bloody mayhem ensues, with Walker taking a sledgehammer to any nuance. Heads are bludgeoned, throats are cut, and even a knitting needle proves a bloody end for British TV stalwart Queenie Watts. The interior decor of shag pile carpet and heavy patterned wallpaper is a 1970s wonder in itself.
Walker is a fine director and keeps the camera moving to keep the identity of the killer hidden, although we all know who it really is all along. Walker must have a clause in his contract that all his leading ladies get naked at some point. This is true of Lynne Frederick, as it was for Susan Penhaligon in House of Mortal Sin and Vicki Michelle in House of Whipcord.
You know what you are getting with a Pete Walker (Heritage) production: lots of location shoots and lounge and bedroom interiors, a sizeable body count, and a cast that is familiar to anyone growing up in 1970s Britain.
Gallery
Trailer
From the score
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Stanley Myers – music from Schizo
